“Everybody’s a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We’re all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos.” David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg, the master of the macabre, creepy obsessions and weird fantasies is coming to OCAD University to talk about the relationship between technology, art, cinema, architecture, design and city landscapes. The iconic Toronto-based Canadian filmmaker will be interviewed by Piers Handling, Director and Chief Executive Officer of TIFF at OCAD U on Tuesday, January 21, as part of the President’s Speaker Series.
"OCAD U is honoured to host one of the world’s most imaginative filmmakers in conversation with a one of the world’s best known curatorial and administrative leaders in film," said Dr. Sara Diamond, OCAD U's President. "This is a wonderful opportunity for the OCAD U community to learn about cinema, technology, design and the creative process from two film masters and we look forward to their unique industry perspectives, artistic ideologies and visions for the future."
During Cronenberg’s 40-year career as a filmmaker, his works have included independent, experimental, science fiction, horror, thriller and studio productions including Videodrome, The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, Crash, A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method and Cosmopolis. Thought-provoking and transgressive to the point of being controversial, Cronenberg is also celebrated with significant international awards, including France’s prestigious Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres, a Special Jury Prize at Cannes, a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award and a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Cronenberg was the subject of an ambitious, international touring exhibition curated and launched by TIFF in the fall, and as part of that initiative OCAD U partnered with TIFF’s Higher Learning Digital Resource Hub, York University and Sheridan College to create David Cronenberg: Virtual Exhibition. The Virtual Exhibition will make a vast collection of scholarly essays, footage and research materials available to an online international artist. Caroline Langill, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and School of Interdisciplinary Studies at OCAD U, Natalie Waldburger, Assistant Professor, Drawing and Painting and a team of OCAD U students contributed essays, interactive maps, lesson plans and 3D images to the Virtual Exhibition.
Piers Handling, who will join Cronenberg at the January 21 event, is responsible for leading both the operational and artistic growth of TIFF. Since 1994, under his direction, TIFF became an internationally renowned cultural institution and opened TIFF Bell Lightbox, a permanent home for all of TIFF’s year-round film, educational and exhibition programming. Handling is the former Deputy Director of the Canadian Film Institute (CFI), taught at Carleton and Queens universities and has published extensively on Canadian cinema. He holds an Honourary Doctorate of Fine Arts from OCAD U.
Famous Cronenberg quotes
“I think of horror films as art, as films of confrontations. Films that make you confront aspects of your own life that are difficult to face. Just because you’re making a horror film doesn’t mean you can’t make an artful film.”
“Since I see technology as being an extension of the human body, it’s inevitable that it should come home to roost.”
“As filmmaker, I ask questions but don’t have answers. Moviemaking is a philosophical exploration. I invite the audience to come on the journey and discover what they think and feel.”
Learn more:
Attend the talk
David Cronenberg exhibition at TIFF
Toronto Life profile of David Cronenberg
Piers Handling at TIFF